And as for you, if you will walk before me, as David your father walked, and do according to all that I have commanded you, and shall observe my statutes and my judgments;

Then will I establish the throne of your kingdom, according as I have covenanted with David your father, saying, There shall not fail you a man to be ruler in Israel.

Then will I pluck them up by the roots out of my land which I have given them; and this house, which I have sanctified for my name, will I cast out of my sight, and will make it to be a proverb and a byword among all nations.

Your father made our yoke heavy: now therefore ease you somewhat the heavy service of your father, and his heavy yoke that he put upon us, and we will serve you.

And they spoke unto him, saying, If you are kind to this people, and please them, and speak good words to them, they will be your servants forever.

For whereas my father put a heavy yoke upon you, I will add more to your yoke: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

And answered them after the advice of the young men, saying, My father made your yoke heavy, but I will add to it: my father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions.

And when the LORD saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the LORD came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves; therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance; and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak.

And he went out to meet Asa, and said unto him, {} Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin; The LORD is with you, while you are with him; and if you seek him, he will be found of you; but if you forsake him, he will forsake you.

And Ahab king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat king of Judah, Will you go with me to Ramoth-gilead? And he answered him, I am as you are, and my people as your people; and we will be with you in the war.

Therefore the king of Israel gathered together of prophets four hundred men, and said unto them, Shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall I forbear? And they said, Go up; for God will deliver it into the king's hand.

And Micaiah said, As the LORD lives, even what my God says, that will I speak.

Then there came out a spirit, and stood before the LORD, and said, I will entice him. And the LORD said unto him, By what means?

And he said, I will go out, and be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets. And the LORD said, You shall entice him, and you shall also prevail: go out, and do even so.

And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, I will disguise myself, and will go to the battle; but put you on your robes. So the king of Israel disguised himself; and they went to the battle.

If, when evil comes upon us, as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in your presence, (for your name is in this house,) and cry unto you in our affliction, then you will hear and help.

O our God, will you not judge them? for we have no might against this great company that comes against us; neither know we what to do: but our eyes are upon you.

You shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand you still, and see the salvation of the LORD with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them: for the LORD will be with you.

Behold, with a great plague will the LORD strike your people, and your children, and your wives, and all your goods:

But if you will go, do it, be strong for the battle: but God shall make you fall before the enemy: for God has power to help, and to cast down.

And Joash king of Israel sent to Amaziah king of Judah, saying, The thistle that was in Lebanon sent to the cedar that was in Lebanon, saying, Give your daughter to my son as a wife: and there passed by a wild beast that was in Lebanon, and trod down the thistle.

For he sacrificed unto the gods of Damascus, which had defeated him: and he said, Because the gods of the kings of Syria help them, therefore will I sacrifice to them, that they may help me. But they were the ruin of him, and of all Israel.

So the runners went with the letters from the king and his princes throughout all Israel and Judah, and according to the commandment of the king, saying, You children of Israel, turn again unto the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, and he will return to the remnant of you, that are escaped out of the hand of the kings of Assyria.

For if you turn again unto the LORD, your brethren and your children shall find compassion before them that lead them captive, so that they shall come again into this land: for the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if you return unto him.

And he set a carved image, the idol which he had made, in the house of God, of which God had said to David and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen before all the tribes of Israel, will I put my name forever:

Neither will I any more remove the foot of Israel from out of the land which I have appointed for your fathers; if only they will take heed to do all that I have commanded them, according to the whole law and the statutes and the ordinances by the hand of Moses.

Thus says the LORD, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah:

Behold, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall be gathered to your grave in peace, neither shall your eyes see all the evil that I will bring upon this place, and upon its inhabitants. So they brought the king word again.

But Zerubbabel, and Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, said unto them, You have nothing to do with us to build a house unto our God; but we ourselves together will build unto the LORD God of Israel, as king Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.

Be it known now unto the king, that, if this city is built, and the walls set up again, then will they not pay toll, tribute, and custom, and so you shall impair the revenue of the kings.

And whatsoever shall seem good to you, and to your brethren, to do with the rest of the silver and the gold, that do according to the will of your God.

And whosoever will not do the law of your God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed speedily upon him, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.

Arise; for this matter belongs unto you: we also will be with you: be of good courage, and do it.

Remember, I beseech you, the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, If you transgress, I will scatter you abroad among the nations:

But if you turn unto me, and keep my commandments, and do them; though some of you were cast out unto the uttermost part of the heaven, yet will I gather them from there, and will bring them unto the place that I have chosen to set my name there.

And the king said unto me, (the queen also sitting by him,) For how long shall your journey be? and when will you return? So it pleased the king to send me; and I set him a time.

But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed at us, and despised us, and said, What is this thing that you do? will you rebel against the king?

Then answered I them, and said unto them, The God of heaven, he will prosper us; therefore we his servants will arise and build: but you have no portion, nor right, nor memorial, in Jerusalem.

And he spoke before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they finish in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?

And it came to pass, that when the Jews who dwelt near them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places where you shall return unto us they will be upon you.

And I said unto them, We after our ability have redeemed our brethren the Jews, who were sold unto the nations; and will you even sell your brethren? or shall they be sold unto us? Then held they their peace, and found nothing to answer.

Then said they, We will restore them, and will require nothing of them; so will we do as you say. Then I called the priests, and took an oath of them, that they should do according to this promise.

For they all made us afraid, saying, Their hands shall be weakened from the work, that it will not be done. Now therefore, O God, strengthen my hands.

Afterward I came unto the house of Shemaiah the son of Delaiah the son of Mehetabel, who was shut up; and he said, Let us meet together in the house of God, within the temple, and let us shut the doors of the temple: for they will come to slay you; yea, in the night will they come to slay you.

And I said, Should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.

For the children of Israel and the children of Levi shall bring the offering of the grain, of the new wine, and the oil, unto the chambers, where are the vessels of the sanctuary, and the priests that minister, and the gatekeepers, and the singers: and we will not forsake the house of our God.

Then I testified against them, and said unto them, Why lodge you before the wall? if you do so again, I will lay hands on you. From that time forth came they no more on the sabbath.

If it please the king, let it be written that they may be destroyed: and I will pay ten thousand talents of silver to the hands of those that have the charge of the business, to bring it into the king's treasuries.

Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.

If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition, and to perform my request, let the king and Haman come to the banquet that I shall prepare for them, and I will do tomorrow as the king has said.

Then the king returned out of the palace garden into the place of the banquet of wine; and Haman was fallen upon the bed on which Esther was. Then said the king, Will he force the queen also before me in the house? As the word went out of the king's mouth, they covered Haman's face.

But put forth your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.

And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man has will he give for his life.

But put forth your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.

If we venture to converse with you, will you be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?

Call now, if there be any that will answer you; and to which of the holy ones will you turn?

Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass? or the ox lows over its fodder?

Teach me, and I will hold my tongue: and cause me to understand how I have erred.

Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

How long will you not look away from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle?

How long will you speak these things? and how long shall the words of your mouth be like a strong wind?

If he is destroyed from his place, then it will deny him, saying, I have not seen you.

Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he help the evil doers:

They that hate you shall be clothed with shame; and the dwelling place of the wicked will come to nothing.

If he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand.

Behold, he takes away, who can hinder him? who will say unto him, What do you?

If God will not withdraw his anger, the proud helpers do bow before him.

He will not permit me to take my breath, but fills me with bitterness.

If the scourge slays suddenly, he will laugh at the plight of the innocent.

If I say, I will forget my complaint, I will leave off my heaviness, and comfort myself:

I am afraid of all my sorrows, I know that you will not hold me innocent.

My soul is weary of my life; I will leave my complaint upon myself; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.

I will say unto God, Do not condemn me; show me why you contend with me.

Remember, I beseech you, that you have made me as the clay; and will you bring me into dust again?

If I sin, then you mark me, and you will not acquit me from my iniquity.

For he knows vain men: he sees wickedness also; will he not then consider it?

For a vain man will be wise, when a man is born a wild donkey's colt.

Will you speak wickedly for God? and talk deceitfully for him?

Will you accept his person? will you contend for God?

He will surely reprove you, if you do secretly show partiality.

Hold your peace, let me alone, that I may speak, and let come on me what will.

Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will defend my own ways before him.

Who is he that will contend with me? for now, if I hold my tongue, I shall die.

Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from you.

Then call, and I will answer: or let me speak, and you answer me.

Will you break a leaf driven to and fro? and will you pursue the dry stubble?

For there is hope for a tree, if it is cut down, that it will sprout again, and that the tender shoots thereof will not cease.

Yet at the scent of water it will bud, and bring forth branches like a plant.

If a man dies, shall he live again? all the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change comes.

You shall call, and I will answer you: you will have a desire to the work of your hands.

I will show you, hear me; and that which I have seen I will declare;

Lay down a surety for me with you; who is he that will give surety for me?

How long will it be before you make an end of words? consider, and afterwards we will speak.

How long will you torment my soul, and break me in pieces with words?

If indeed you will magnify yourselves against me, and plead against me my reproach:

Will he reprove you for fear of you? will he enter with you into judgment?

Will he plead against me with his great power? No; but he would put strength in me.

Behold, as wild donkeys in the desert, go they forth to their work; rising early for a prey: the wilderness yields food for them and for their children.

And if it be not so now, who will make me a liar, and make my speech worth nothing?

God forbid that I should justify you: till I die I will not remove my integrity from me.